Gretchen's Wheel, Moth To Lamplight: A Nada Surf Tribute, 2019

Album Review

By Henry Lipput

It really should be called Gretchen's Surf.

Lindsay Murray, the singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist (She's been playing everything on Gretchen's Wheel albums except the drums, which are played by the chap-in-the-cupboard and co-producer Nick Bertling.), has recorded Moth To Lamplight, a tribute to the splendid songs of Nada Surf.

It's no surprise that Murray does such a great job with covers. Her version of Matthew Sweet's "Walk Out" was a highlight of last year's Futureman Records' tribute album Altered Sweet. She has also released two excellent albums (Sad Scientist and Black Box Theory) and an EP (awry)  in the last two years. You should really check these out. Black Box Theory was one of my favorite albums of 2018.

I've been a fan of Nada Surf since 2002's Let Go. It's still on of my favorites from the band, and if I were going to disagree with Murray about her choice of songs on Moth, it would be the exclusion of "Blonde on Blonde" from Let Go. In addition, I have occasionally referred to the distinctive sound of Matthew Caws's guitars in my reviews of releases by other bands.

Murray provides intelligent covers of "Killian's Red" (Let Go) and "See These Bones" (Lucky). But she's accomplished something of a musical mind-meld on a few of the early Nada Surf songs I'm not familiar with like "Amateur" and "No Quick Fix" as well as "Believe You're Mine" and "Rushing" from 2016's You Know Who You Are.

This connection is so strong that there were times when I could forget that it was a Nada Surf song and think I was listening to a brand new song by Gretchen's Wheel. So, because the name Nada Wheel just doesn't sound right, the new band name of Gretchen's Surf makes all the sense in the world.

Moth To Lamplight: A Tribute to Nada Surf is out now on Futureman Records.

Gretchen's Wheel, Black Box Theory, 2018

Album Review

By Henry Lipput

Black Box Theory is the fourth and latest smart and rocking album from Gretchen's Wheel, a solo project of Nashville-based singer / songwriter / musician Lindsay Murray.

The new album is Murray's follow-up to last year's very fine Sad Scientist. In between the two albums, she recorded "Walk Out" one of the best tracks from Futureman Records' terrific Matthew Sweet tribute, Altered Sweet, and also released the completely solo five-song acoustic EP awry. Murray has brought other musicians on-board for her albums including Ken Stringfellow from The Posies, Big Star, and R.E.M. and Ira Elliot from Nada Surf.

On Black Box Theory, Murray provides vocals and rhythm and lead guitars as well as bass and keyboards on all of the songs. The album was written, produced and recorded by Murray at her home in Westmoreland, TN. And, although you wouldn't know it by the way her guitars and bass click with Nick Bertling's excellent drumming, his work was recorded not in Tennessee but in what has been described as a storage cupboard in Chicago. He also added additional guitars, synths, mellotron, and bass to the songs.

Murray has an intelligent way of looking at life and love, and it's reflected in her lyrics. Commenting on the title of her Sad Scientist album, she has said that her approach to songwriting and her outlook on life is a "sad science." There's also a heft to the album's sound, inviting the listener to take what's being said seriously. In addition, on awry, Murray began using lower case letters for song titles and she's continued this with Black Box Theory, making her track lists look like poems by E. E. Cummings.

In "aftermath," perhaps about the end of a relationship, Murray sings, "I need a heavier blanket / and quiet is too loud / put a record on / I'm going deaf / if it's really the darkest before the dawn / tonight I'll know / whatever it was I wanted / was carried away by the waves."

"something's coming" also sees problems but also a positive turn of events although she can't say what that might be: "today I woke up feeling good / so I wonder what's wrong / how about some superstition to even it out / I'm afraid of the rain for dread of the drought / something's coming / to set it right / restore the balance / it's a matter of time."
 
The hope of something better happening and the impulse not to do harm to oneself is echoed in "imp" with the lyric "I'm all right / I feel fine / I'm okay / I'm okay / can't explain / what's in my brain / I want to stay / I want to stay / the whisper of the imp in my ear."

Murray is a gifted and first-rate guitarist; and along with her sharp take on all things human, Murray continues to rock. "the maze" is a power pop gem. "tatyana" has melody to spare; and "lucid" is driven forward by the guitar, bass, and drums working in lockstep.

Black Box Theory is out now on Futureman Records.

Gretchen's Wheel, Sad Scientist, 2017

Album Review

by Henry Lipput

On her website, Lindsay Murray, the driving force behind Gretchen's Wheel, says her approach to songwriting and her outlook on life is as a "sad science." "The act of songwriting and recording music is my 'sad science…' turning sadness or other negative emotions into something better," which makes her the sad scientist in the title of the latest album from Gretchen's Wheel. Murray is also the band's singer, guitarist, and producer.

Sad Scientist is the third album from Gretchen's Wheel; and, to help with her research into human relations, Murray put together a terrific band of power pop titans that includes Ken Stringfellow (The Posies, Big Star, R.E.M.), Andy Reed(The Legal Matters, Reed Recording Co.), and multi-instrumentalist and guitar master Fernando Perdomo.

Murray has noted that her influences include Nada Surf, Elliot Smith, and Matthew Sweet, but it's also obvious that this list has to include Aimee Mann, especially during her early solo Jon Brion period. The track "Blank Slate" on Sad Scientist is one of the best songs on the album and one Mann now won't have a chance to write and record.

There are hints of folk icon Judy Collins in Murray's voice on slower songs like "Out Of Your Hands" and, especially, the sad and lovely final track "Same Song."

"Wish" swings in a groovy power pop kind of way and, to my ears, is already a classic track. "Save The Day" starts out with a spacey feel but includes big musical bits that remind me of nothing so much as "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," and the song showcases some great guitar work from Murray. And "The Price" is a pop-rock gem driven by Perdomo on drums and bass.

Sad Scientist is out now on Futureman Records.